Multifaceted genious:Jyotiprasad Agarwala

The doyen of assamese culture:

Jyotiprasad Agarwal, a poet of great brilliance, a musician of rare caliber, an artist of outstanding accomplishment, an ardent revolutionary and a great humanist strode like a colossus in the cultural domain of Assam for over two decades.

Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwal, the prince of artistes of Assam which would stand out significantly and continue to inspire the succeeding generations in Assam is his unshakeable faith in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, truth over untruth and beauty over ugliness

JYOTIPRASAD, THE PLAYWRIGHT:

his name conjures up a happy past in the domain of Assamese drama and theatre. Nourished by the rich theatrical heritage left by the galaxy of writers who proceeds him, Jyoti Prasad’s untiring quest for identity inspired him to bring about a fusion of the new wave which he directly brought from Europe with the traditional aspirations of the people.

His first play – “Sonit Kunwari” an inkling of dramatic genius.

The theme of the play, woven around the episode inst of mythological Usha and Aniruddha, was rich in dialogues, lyrical content and songs set to indigenous tunes.

“Karengor Ligiri” was his second play. Here he introduced debate oriented dialogues to discuss and argue on the various points that emerged out of Kanchan’s marriage with Sunder Konwar who knew full well that she loved his friend Ananga. Jyoti Prasad had very deftly brought out the lyrical and romantic beauty of the plot through the unobtrusive maid of the palace Sewali who nourished unalloyed love in the core of her heart for the

Prince Sunder and sacrificed her life to save him from ignominy.

Clear characterization, depicting clash of characters and inner psychological conflict, lively dialogues with literary flavour In his third play “Rupalim” set against tribal background. Jyoti Prasad wrote “Khanikar before Labhita though it has been published much later in the journal “Prakash” and included in the complete works of Jyoti prasad published by the publication Board, Assam. This is a social play depicting how the young artist Nabin Phookan fought against the conservatism of the family and went to Europe and through various vicissitudes reached his goal and become a super star a sculptor

In Labhita, we find a new Jyoti Prasad. In this play he presented the significant episode connected with the revolution of 1942. There is no hero and no heroine in this play although the play depicts the reaction of the mind of simple village girl Labhita who swims courageously through the torrents of the times and is killed when planting the Indian National Flag on the soil of our British dominated country. The quick passage of thrilling events and the dynamic character of Labhita sustain the interest of the viewers /readers till the end which is indeed inspiring.